Monday, February 7, 2011

After Evelyn got home from preschool on Friday, we hopped in the car and headed east on the turnpike. We didn't tell her where we were going but she eventually figured out that we were off to help Grandma celebrate her birthday. Evy immediately wondered if we brought clothes to wear. We told her it was a surprise for her, not for us.

Evelyn loves birthdays. Brandon loves cake. It was a perfect plan.

The next day we took Evy on a quick trip into Harrisburg. We handed her a concert ticket to see if she could figure out the next surprise. Her jumping and skipping let us know that she was able to read Justin Roberts & the Not Ready for Naptime Players on the front. "I'm so excited!" she shrieked as she hopped up the stairs to join her second kiddie mosh pit.

We've said before that if you have kids you should check out Justin Roberts' music. Someone has been paying attention - his latest album has been nominated for a Grammy. Evy has been a big fan for a long time now. In fact, we first learned that she was paying attention to music when at 16 months she started belting out his song "Imaginary Rhino" while it was playing in the car one day. And she has been strumming a fake guitar and singing her own versions of his songs since she was two.

She jumped and danced and showed her cousin William the finer points of children's moshing while she sang all the words to every song they played. The band even honored her request for fast songs and anything with a kazoo as they dedicated "Day Camp" to her. She almost burst with excitement.

After the show she gave some high fives, some hugs, and got some more pictures with the guys. On the way home she decided that it was a great weekend. The problem now is that when I surprise her with my leftover cheese curls from lunch it probably isn't going to get the same reaction as before.